Qwym`ln Campaign
The was a conceited drive by the Emperor Odoa the Liberator of Tyvic to reclaim the lands conquered by the Tsar Zarinsk and successfully held by his successor Tsar Tahkwo. Regarded as the second and final chapter of the Second Vuscovi Civil War, the campaign saw all the territory in the Qwym`lyn Steppes taken by Vasque in years past swiftly returned to the hands of Tyvic, whilst the lands between Voskrensenka and Zarinsk - later known as the Wunwoellands - remained under the control of the Tsar. In the eyes of the Emperor, these lands would have been far to great a risk to the stability of his campaign, and he instead focussed entirely on preserving the capital from potential devastation by all defensive operations that were deemed necessary, whilst pooling more and more supplies, men and tactical efforts in the northeastern battlefields in a merciless cleaving up of Vuscovi land. Whilst Vasque boasted high morale and a greater number of soldiers, the technological superiority of Tyvic and the almost complete lack of geographical advantages for the mountain and forest-reared Voonisians proved lethal, with only the most elite of Voonisian magic-wielding druids and fanatical berserkers proving capable at breaking the backs of some Empyrian rifleman platoons. However, Voonisian cavalry proved to be a surprisingly potent weapon in the treeless fields of Qwym`ln, with many new tactics developed in the years of Zarinsk and Tahkwo used in full effect against their southern enemies. In the epicentre of the conflict, cavalry was hailed as the keystone to Vasque's success in the majority of engagements it won. Voskrensenka itself, whilst at first uncontested, was soon too great a temptation for the Tsar Hagj`hatu to ignore. Electing to fight on two fronts, the city was besieged, cut off from outside aid as its walls approached by siege towers, gates approached by iron-capped battering rams, magical firebombs thrown over its walls and combusted upon its arrowslits, outskirt villages razed and fields sown with salt. Odoa was faced with a race against time, even if his crown city boasted the power of black powder. Given an adequate progression of months, Voskrensenka would essentially starve to death, whilst the concentration of efforts in the northeast would have been all in vain. But for the late Tsar, not only was his dominion at the receiving end of the ruthless devastation of Empyrian gunpowder weaponry, eventually even the elements themselves turned against him. Following the campaign, the reversal of Vasqui conquests, and the dreaded arrival of a particularly harsh summer descending upon The Gloaming North, the Tsardom fell victim to a widespread famine, only accelerated by the naval blockades in the Takw'yctan Channel imposed by the Emperor, preventing strategically crucial crops harvested on the island to be transported to the Voonisian war effort and to alleviate the mass starvation. Without properly mechanised agriculture, many thousands of Voonisian peasants simply could not produce enough food, leaving many thousands of otherwise perfectly capable soldiers and farmers dead. With his dominion struck down by crisis, the Tsar's plans to continue of the war effort were halted in their tracks, and his desire to see the Empyian capital that sat only miles away from the Vasqui border fall under a tide of Voonisian was stolen from his hands.